25/08/2026
🐂🏛 Ancient Epirus: the Heart of Greece 💙🇬🇷
🏔 "Epirus" is the latinized form of "Ήπειρος"(Attic Greek)/"Άπειρος"(Doric Greek), meaning "mainland" or "continent", a name given because of the regions mountainous and simingly "endless" terrain, situated just opposite of Corfu. The name was first recorded by Hecataeus of Miletus.
🏺Greek inscriptions and remains are found all over the region stretching as far back as the Myceneans and beyond.
🛡 Ancient Epirus was inhabited by three main tribes: the Molossians, who came to dominate the region and laying the foundations for a unified state under the Aeacidae dynasty, the Chaonians, located in modern North Epirus, and the Thesprotians on the coast. The Aeacids allied themselves with the increasingly powerful kingdom of Macedon, in part against the common threat of Illyrian raids.
🏛⚡️Epirus is home to ancient Greek religious sites, including at the Necromanteion of Acheron and at the Oracle of Zeus at Dodona, sites referenced both in history and in myth as sacred to the Greeks.
👑🐂 The most famous king (Βασιλεύς) of Epirus was Pyrrhus, son of Aeacides of Epirus and Phthia of Thessaly and cousin to Olympias, Alexander the Great's mother. Despite being in line for the throne, his family lost it after a war with Macedonia. He went into exile where he aligned with Glaucias, an Illyrian king, and raised by Beroea, Glaucias's Greek wife. He returned with the help of Glaucias but faced rebellion and went into exile again, and returning only after agreeing to share power with Neoptolemus, who was pro-Macedonian.
⚔️ Pyrrhus would end up taking over and some years later gain fame for fighting the Romans in defense of Magna Grecia Cities. His costly victories led to the creation of the phrase "Purrhic Victory". He also launched wars against the illyrian kingdoms to the north, and, mimicking Phillip he would take their princesses as concubines/wives, though his primary wife was Greek.
🗣🇬🇷 The Epirotes spoke Greek, worshipped Greek gods, participated in the Olympic Games and their envoys were included in the list of sacred envoys in Epidaurus (θεαρόδοκοι). Aristotle considered Epirus "the cradle of the Greeks", which is interesting, considering that scholars nowadays consider Epirus the birthplace of the Proto-Greek language.
🏛Ancient Epirotes had a different system of governance than Athens, starting from a tribe system, evolving into a kingdom and later the Epirotan League (Κοινὸν Ἀπειρωτᾶν), more similar to the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia. So it should be no surprise that Athenian Thucydides sometimes mentions our ancestors as "barbarians". But his comments are often contradictory and he made similar ones regarding the Aetolians and Acarnanians, leading modern scholars to conclude that the term "barbarian", besides meaning "foreigner", was also used pejoratively among the different states if they had a different system, took foreign concubines or spoke a different dialect. It is also important to note that he finds himself in the minority, with most Greek and Roman historians considering ancient Epirotes to be Greek. Ancient Epirotes themselves were clear about their identity, with the Aeacidae Dynasty (including Pyrrhus) claiming descent from Achilles and Helenus, and other Epirotes participating in Panhellenic Events💪🇬🇷
🪙 Last Picture: coins from the ancient Greek kingdom of Epirus and the Epirotan League with the inscription "Ἀπειρωτᾶν"
